This one definitely would be bad to weld to. Among other things, the current chair is still covered by warranty. Also, it's made of a custom aluminum alloy and apparently hardened through some additional annealing process after the frame is entirely welded together -- any new welds could potentially weaken the structure (or so the manufacturer and one of their engineers told us -- I'm going to take them at their word given the warranty and the fact that I'm no metallurgist ;~).
As for your idea -- it sounds similar to one I had thought of previously and might incorporate to some degree in this design. In particular, the collar idea is one I like, but it would need to be something that could act as a temporary attachment. Also, I'd want to attach some rubber to avoid damaging the current supports for the footrest. But that might be one way to fashion the supports I described in the previous email I sent a few minutes ago. By the way, which hackerspace are you referring to when you say "the hackerspace"? ~thomas On Mon, Jul 7, 2014 at 1:08 AM, benjamin barber <[email protected]> wrote: > I've done a fair amount of welding and brazing. My neighbors used to have > a steel framed wheelchair, which seemed strong enough to weld to. Otherwise > I have an idea in my mind, bending some sheet metal to form a collar around > the leg, with two holes after the leg to hold a vertically swiveling and > telescoping tube. Probably a cannibalized set of crutches and a piece of > sheet metal is all that is needed. In fact you could probably build it > yourself with the tools at the hacker space. > > > On Sun, Jul 6, 2014 at 10:19 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hm. I have a spare lightweight steel bike frame I could chop and braze >> up into something useful. >> I may wind up in a wheelchair myself (MS, not relapsing yet) so best get >> head of the game. >> I'm not clear on what you're trying to build but maybe we can work up >> something useful that's within my (rather amateur) fabrication abilities. >> >> >> On 2014-07-06 20:13, Thomas Lockney wrote: >> >>> Hey folks, >>> >>> I figured I'd check to see if anyone here might have the ability to >>> help me (and my wife) out. My wife frequently has to use a wheelchair, >>> but we're looking to enhance it. She now has a condition that requires >>> her feet to be elevated as much as possible. We've already spoken with >>> the manufacturer of the wheelchair and they already told us they >>> couldn't do anything and that welding anything to the frame would be a >>> very bad idea -- we're going to take them as knowing better than us. >>> We also can't easily afford buying a new wheelchair (yes, insurance >>> may cover portions of it, but not nearly as much as you would hope, >>> and we're not sure they'd cover a second one, anyway). >>> >>> So, what I'm looking for is ideally someone who works with the same >>> kind of lightweight tubing used for bicycle frames (or similar), who >>> has the ability to build something that can attach temporarily, while >>> still being structurally stable. I have a basic idea in mind, but I >>> need someone who is skilled enough and who has access to the tools to >>> execute on it and perhaps even make it better than what I have come up >>> with. >>> >>> For anyone wanting to see the frame we're talking about, it's >>> basically, this >>> >>> model: http://www.quickie-wheelchairs.com/products/ >>> Quickie-Q7-Adjustable-27894.html >>> [1] (click the image for a larger version). Feel free to contact me >>> >>> directly, rather than to the list, if you or someone you know might be >>> able to help us out. I don't know what work like this would cost, but >>> I'm happy to consider any reasonable solutions -- it will still almost >>> certainly be less than a new chair. >>> >>> ~thomas >>> >>> -- >>> >>> Thomas Lockney >>> [email protected] http://thomas.lockney.net [2] >>> >>> Links: >>> ------ >>> [1] http://www.quickie-wheelchairs.com/products/ >>> Quickie-Q7-Adjustable-27894.html >>> [2] http://thomas.lockney.net >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> dorkbotpdx-blabber mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> dorkbotpdx-blabber mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber > > > > _______________________________________________ > dorkbotpdx-blabber mailing list > [email protected] > http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber > -- Thomas Lockney [email protected] http://thomas.lockney.net
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